D&D’s Upcoming Adventure ‘Vecna: Eve of Ruin’ is a Greatest Hits Tour of D&D
Vecna: Eve of Ruin will take you from levels 10 through 20, but it’s more about the journey—a romp through some of D&D’s greatest hits.
The archlich Vecna is at the heart of WotC’s upcoming meta-adventure, Vecna: Eve of Ruin, which sees players cast as the only ones standing between Vecna and remaking the universe in his undead image. And it’s no coincidence, either. As D&D celebrates its 50th anniversary, they’re looking to remind everyone of all the good times along the way.
That’s why it’s not just Vecna but a sort of who’s who of D&D. You’ll find familiar villains, old and new, as well as archmages who have appeared in the various campaigns that make up the annals of D&D. It’s got a real nostalgia feast vibe, and that gives it such an interesting flavor, considering that most of D&D’s audience is young enough to have not played through those iconic adventures.
Maybe it’s a fascination with the past. Or simpler times. Either way, at a recent press briefing, we got a look at some of what lies in store.
Vecna Begins
So, for starters, you’ve probably seen the redesigned Vecna. And if he looks a little bit like his counterpart in Stranger Things in some of these images… well you’re not wrong. As Amanda Hamon and Trystan Falcone hinted during the briefing, the new design leans into what makes Vecna seem scary and evocative, including his appearance in Stranger Things.
But it’s not just how you look. It’s the legends, in general, that make Vecna one of the archvillains of D&D. Those legends, though, are largely later stories gathered from players. As it turns out, Vecna began life as little more than a blurb written by Brian Blume in Eldritch Wizardry:
“[Blume] mentions the Hand and the Eye of Vecna as artifacts, but there’s only one line about Vecna himself. It says he’s a lich of great power […] who can only affect people who have put on his hand and his eye.”
From that scrap of text came Vecna. It wasn’t until the later editions of D&D that Vecna became more of a villain. Nostalgia will lie to you if you’re not careful. But as Vecna schemes and gathers secrets, hints of his plans can be unearthed. Secrets have a way of wanting to be known.
The Secret to the Adventure
The briefing reiterated some of the details we already knew about the adventure: Vecna has instructed his cults to gather secrets from across the multiverse and give them to him. To defeat him, three archmages (Mordenkainen, Tasha, and Alustriel Silverhand) gathered together to cast a ritual spell and ended up summoning the adventurers. Owing to a prior brush with Vecna’s powers, those adventurers are the ones destined to defeat him. How? By collecting the pieces of the Rod of Seven Parts.
Along the way, you’ll revisit iconic D&D locations, including Sigil, the City of Doors, Ravenloft, the Astral Sea, and the world of Krynn—all worlds conveniently revisited in earlier 5E books—and while there, you’ll meet with famous NPCs.
We have heard all this before, but there were some hints of excitement to come. In particular, the players themselves will be able to collect secrets from the NPCs they encounter throughout their madcap race to try and stop Vecna. These secrets can either be saved for the end of the adventure, when they can help take on Vecna himself, or they can be spent for a mechanical benefit, which might facilitate their reaching the end of the adventure.
So when you run back into Strahd von Zarovich or encounter one of Acererak’s “false liches”, lovingly referred to as “Rerak,” know that you might have some important things to gain beyond just beating them in a fight.
What About the New Edition?
The other thing that Hamon stressed in the briefing was that while the adventure is intended to be as “off-the-rails, high-level as we can get,” it was meant to pave the way for the new revision/edition of the rules coming in 2024 with the revised PHB and DMG arriving in September and November. As Hamon put it:
“We all hope [Vecna: Eve of Ruin] is very indicative of this adventure moving on into the future: a high-level adventure that people can play for many years to come. With the remastered core books coming out, it was a really good time to show we can make an adventure that is this scope, and have it be good for the previous version of the rules and also many years to come.”
Vecna: Eve of Ruin will be released in WPN-associated Local Game stores on May 7th and will be available worldwide on May 21st.
